Ministering Comfort

Broken hearted. Tangled mess. Marred beauty. Unravelled and undone.

Don't we all fit these descriptions from time to time? And don't we have the Master Restorer in our corner?

Isaiah 42:3 "A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth."

Christians are not above such things - we know pain and failure, too. When we are bruised, when our passion and strength is almost snuffed out He comes to our aid. He doesn't label us a "has been"; we are not tossed out on the garbage heap. In His infinite mercy He gives beauty for ashes and the oil of joy for mourning. The world merely boasts of such mercy; they do not actually experience it.

It is our very need that qualifies us to receive, and therefore give, consolation. We can give comfort and hope to the broken hearted, to those in a tangled mess, to the one who has lost her beauty, and to the one whose life is unravelling and undone. It is the comfort we ourselves have received. And we can offer it freely because we have been the joyful recipients.

2 Cor. 1:3,4 "All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us."